In a move that could have a significant impact on Ford’s Australian operations, Ford of Europe has committed to selling electric-only passenger cars by 2030.
As part of its transition to an all EV lineup, Ford says by the middle of 2026 all of the models in its European range will be capable of zero tailpipe emissions, meaning every vehicle line will have at least a plug-in hybrid or full electric drivetrain option.
Currently Ford Australia’s passenger car range features the Escape, Puma, Fiesta ST, and Focus, all of which are sourced from European factories.
The Ranger ute and related Everest SUV come from Thailand, while the Mustang range is produced in the USA.
Although Ford’s European offerings make up a significant portion of the models available in local showrooms, they only accounted for 4821 units or 8.1 per cent of Ford’s Australian sales.
Together the Ranger and Everest lines were responsible for 46,969 sales in 2020, or 78.8 per cent of Ford’s Australian total of 59,601 vehicles sold.
Ford’s European commercial van range won’t make a complete shift to electric motivation, though.
Every model in Ford of Europe’s commercial vehicle range will be available with a plug-in hybrid or pure electric drivetrain by 2024.
According to the firm, it expects two-thirds of European commercial vehicle sales to be plug-in hybrid or full electric by 2030.
It seems likely the Volkswagen Group’s all-electric MEB architecture will play a significant role in Ford of Europe’s EV revolution.
As part of the automaker’s alliance with the Volkswagen Group, Ford has previously committed to developing and building at least one vehicle on Volkswagen’s all-electric MEB architecture, which forms the basis of the Volkswagen ID.3, ID.4 and Skoda Enyaq.
While Ford is promising to share more details about its European EV plans “over the coming months”, it has confirmed it will spend US$1 billion ($1.3 billion) to convert its Cologne, Germany, factory into an EV manufacturing hub.
Ford says the first Europe-made “volume all-electric passenger vehicle” will start rolling off the line in Cologne in 2023.
At present the only confirmed electric and plug-in models confirmed for the Continent are the Mustang Mach-E crossover and the Kuga PHEV. Sales of the latter have been put on hold while the company and its suppliers sort out an issue with overheating batteries which can catch fire.
Today’s announcement is driven in large part by the European Union’s tightening emissions rules, which require automakers to meet a fleet-wide average of 95g/km CO2 or face hefty fines, and commitments by various governments to ban the sale of new cars with petrol and diesel engines in the not-too-distant future.
Ford of Europe is just the latest automaker to pledge a shift to an all-electric lineup, with Bentley announcing the change late last year and Jaguar announcing its plans earlier this week.
